


Caramel Marshmallow Cream

by unknowableroom_archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: One Shot, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-11-07
Updated: 2005-11-07
Packaged: 2019-01-19 21:02:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12418095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unknowableroom_archivist/pseuds/unknowableroom_archivist
Summary: A simple Heads errand in Hosgmeade turns out better than James could ever have hoped for. How James and Lily came to discover their favorite fudge flavor. Fluff galore!





	Caramel Marshmallow Cream

**Author's Note:**

> Note from ChristyCorr, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Unknowable Room](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Unknowable_Room), a Harry Potter archive active from 2005-2016. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after May 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Unknowable Room collection profile](http://www.archiveofourown.org/collections/unknowableroom).

**Caramel Marshmallow Cream**

**Disclaimer:** I don’t own Lily or James or Hogsmeade or Honeydukes or Three Broomsticks or…OKAY, OKAY! I don’t own _anything!_

**Dedication:** To all the lovers of fluff out there, whether you openly admit it or not.

**A/N:** Fluffidy duffy duff galore! Heheh. Enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

I stared out the window, my gaze sliding over the numerous figures bundled up against the snow flurries. Practically everyone I glanced at was loaded with bagfuls of goodies.

Christmas shopping, of course. A bit early, in my opinion. I, for one, have always prided myself on getting my shopping done at the very last possible minute—and still managing to make it look picture perfect, if I do say so myself, shiny curls of ribbon and all.

Well, let the early birds do their shopping. Lily and I had our own plans for this Hosgmeade trip.

(And no, it was not a date.)

Lily.

She was supposed to be here. How could Lily, the perfect Head Girl, punctual being part of the package, no doubt, be late?

It wasn’t even a date! Er, a legitimate date. In my opinion, anyways.

I mean, Merlin! I didn’t even suggest it. _She_ had come up with the idea!

<~ <~ <~ <~ <~ 

_“Tomorrow? No! I can’t go to Hogsmeade! And neither can you! The Winter Festival is in TWO days! We don’t even have everything set up yet!”_

_“What is there to set up?”_

_“What’s there to set up? What’s there to set up?! Are you absolutely thick? All the decorations—”_

_“We can do that tomorrow night. The Prefects have got all the decorations ready. We just have to set it all up. After dinner tomorrow. Wecan ask Dumbledore. We can get Flitwick to help us, too, if you ever get tired of Sticking Charms.”_

_“And the food—”_

_“The house-elves are more than happy to cook all the food…”_

_A pause.  
_

_“Well?”_

_“Well, what about all the candy? You haven’t got that, have you?”_

~> ~> ~> ~> ~>

Well, I certainly had forgotten about that. Loads and loads of candy. It was part of some silly little fifth-year’s idea, and of course all the other sugar-loving, uncontrollably-hyperactive Prefects just had to agree.

I had been tired. Not tired as in, Oh-dear-it’s-been- _such_ -a-long-day-and-I-had-double-Potions tired, but tired as in Quidditch-Cup-approaching-and-training-like-no-tomorrow-and-staying-up-in-the-wee-morning-hours-to-finish-that-cursed-Potions-essay tired. And I still had a Arithmancy number chart to do. Lily had tried to talk them out of it, but we were outnumbered. They knew the limits of our authority, and teetered on its borders every single meeting.

In short, I had finally roared that if they would all kindly shut their holes so we could end the meeting, yes, there would be a fudge-eating contest. I had even added, in my utmost haste, that the winner would receive a bagful of candy the weight of all their textbooks.

It had all been the Prefect’s idea. Not mine. Not my fault, at all.

<~ <~ <~ <~ <~   


_“No, I haven’t got it.”_

_“Mmmhmm. That's what I thought.”_

_“Well, I’ll get it from Honeydukes tomorrow, then! Everything will be fine.”_

_“Oh, no. No. I don’t trust you with that much sugar. You’ll eat it all—”_

_“What!”_

_“Or throw it in your dorm and_ then _eat it all—”_

_“Oh, come on! You trust me enough to get some fudge on my own, don’t you?”_

~> ~> ~> ~> ~>   


So it had been settled. Lily and I were to meet at the Three Broomsticks at one-thirty, to “grab something to drink,” as she had said, before going to Honeyduke’s.

I looked down at my still-overflowing tankard of hot butterbeer. The foam was slowly melting away. The foam was my always my favorite part. I lifted the mug to my lips, and the warm sweetness trickled down my throat.

I checked my watch. One forty-three.

Where was—

On cue, a flash of red suddenly collapsed in the seat across from me.

“Oh!” she panted, gasping from some sort of physical activity. Her cheeks were a bright, pretty red. Beautiful, even. She always was.  


“Tsk, tsk,” I scolded, shaking my head amusedly. “You’re late! And who would’ve thought. Lily Evans, skiving off on Head duties?”

“Oh, shut it!” she exclaimed through a pant of laughter. “I got here as fast as I could!”

“From where?” I asked.

“You don’t know!”

I simply quirked an eyebrow. Was that a rhetorical question?  


“Sirius!”

“Sirius?”

“Yes, Sirius!” she repeated emphatically, as if repeating the name of my best mate was really supposed to be an excuse for her tardiness.

Rosmerta came by that moment, greeting the two of us with a large smile. Lily ordered a hot butterbeer, and Rosmerta bustled off, tossing me a meaningful wink as she went. I immediately stared down at my drink, feeling my face grow warm and wishing it was because of the steaming butterbeer.

Did everyone really think that Lily and I were on a date?

I snuck a glance to my right and glimpsed a Hufflepuff Prefect, with her bubbly girlfriends, whispering and giggling. She kept glancing over her shoulder to look over in my direction, and as I caught her glance, a funny little grin erupted on her face before she quickly turned her back to me again, no doubt whispering and giggling some more.

This didn’t help my face, which was heating up by the moment. I felt like jumping up onto the table and announcing to Rosmerta and those Hufflepuffs and to everyone else in the Three Broomsticks that Lily and I were here on Head business, nothing else. It wasn’t a date! It wasn’t.

No matter how much I wanted it to be.

I could feel my heart breaking just a bit more at this thought.

But Merlin, was I glad that I don’t (always) act on impulse. Jumping on the table would hardly be considered Head business.

Meanwhile, Lily continued talking in her spirited voice, dispelling my thoughts like mist in the morning sun.

“He nearly attacked me at Honeydukes! Said something about getting something nice for Dorcas because she was—what was it? Oh, yeah. ‘Special.’” Here, her grin split a bit wider. I couldn’t help but snort at the thought. He and Dorcas weren’t even dating!

“So,” Lily continued. “He dragged me around for the longest time so he could find something. Said I was her friend, so I should know what she wanted. Well, I finally told him—Oh, thanks, Rosmerta!” She paused in her rambling to take a long draft of butterbeer. “I finally told him that she was complaining about worn out scarf for some time now, so he immediately hauled me over to Gladrag’s, and demanded to know her favorite color.”

My cheeks was hurting from grinning madly at this point. Sirius, dragging Lily into Gladrag’s to buy a scarf for some girl that he may actually fancy?

I filed the mental image under “Things to Tease Padfoot about.”

“So, that’s my excuse.”

“Hardly legitimate,” I replied after a moment of pondering.  


She stopped suddenly and leaned forward a bit, as if scrutinizing my face. I wondered if I had something in my teeth.

“You have a butterbeer mustache,” she grinned, interrupting my hopefully subtle licking of my teeth behind a closed mouth.

“Huh?”

“You have a butterbeer mustache,” Lily repeated. She suddenly leaned over, and before I could realize what was happening, she rubbed my mouth forcefully with the sleeve of her soft, thick cloak.

I blinked. Several times.

“See?” Lily showed me her sleeve, stained with butterbeer foam that was slowly being absorbed.

“Thanks, mum,” I finally managed to counter in a hopefully casual voice.

She laughed. “Anytime, Jamesie.”

I glared.

We downed the rest of our butterbeer and hurried out of the Three Broomsticks. The snow flurries were larger now, whirling and whooshing in the winter wind. I wrapped my cloak tighter around me while still managing to keep my shopping bags snow-free.

“So, what are we planning to buy, anyway?” Lily asked, shaking some snow from her fiery red-orange hair.

“I don’t think the question is what, but how much,” I groaned. “I should've never agreed to this.”

“No, you really shouldn’t have,” she grinned. “Although it will be most amusing to see how this actually turns out.”

“Shut it.”

“I wonder if we need to ask Pomfrey for some potions, in case people start feeling a bit…sick,” Lily added. She apparently reveled in finding faults in my idea. I mean, that Ravenclaw’s idea.

I pulled open the door to Honeyduke’s and let Lily slip in before me. The cheery, sweet-smelling atmosphere of the shop welcomed us warmly.. Lily immediately headed to the fudge counter while I stared at the display case proclaiming, “NEW PRODUCT!” Cockroach Clusters, they were. I grabbed one, reminding myself to slip one to Padfoot later without telling him what it was. He was deathly scared of cockroaches.

“James!” Lily called, waving me over.

I hurried toward her obediently.

“Well?”

“Er,” I managed. There were so many flavors. Thank Merlin that fudge didn’t cost that much, but how were we ever going to provide enough for everyone that signed up? (Padfoot included. Maybe I’ll stick a Cockroach Cluster in his fudge…)

“What flavor should we get?”

“I don’t know.” We couldn’t possibly get everyone’s favorite flavor. “We’ll just have to get one that everyone likes.”

“And if they don’t?”

“Well, then…too bad. They just won’t participate.”

“And just which one is the flavor that everyone likes?” she asked. This woman never ran out of questions!

“Er, well, _my_ favorite is Chocolate Crème Toffee Swirl,” I offered.

She just grinned, shaking her head. “And you expect everyone to like _your_ favorite? You’ll never learn, will you?”

Lily always did that to me, took stabs at my former self, teased me about my old ways. It was all in good fun, I knew. At least it entertained her. At least it showed her that I had changed.

“Fine, what’s yours?” I asked.  


“Praline French Vanilla,” she promptly answered. “ _Not_ Caramel Marshmallow Cream, as you so intelligently assumed in fourth year. I’m surprised it isn’t _your_ favorite.” Lily looked up at me with a teasing grin and a mischievous sparkle that reminded me all too much of Sirius. “I mean, Merlin! Five pounds of it?”

“Shut it,” I mumbled through a blush, bumping her shoulder. The embarrassing Caramel Marshmallow incident three years ago was something I really did not want to remember. “And it _was_ my favorite flavor before _that_ happened. Haven’t eaten it since.” I folded my arms in imaginary crossness.

Lily laughed.

“Well, we’ll never get out of here if we can’t decide.” She lapsed into silent pondering, staring at the huge hunks of fudge, before smiling a slow smile.

“What?” I asked.

“What do you mean, what?”

“You have an idea,” I accused. I knew that expression all too well.

Lily turned back to me, about to say something, then changed her mind and walked to the counter. She bought more than enough pounds of Classic Chocolat. I knew it. Of course Lily would go with the classic, traditional flavor.

I purchased my own box of the Cockroach Clusters and decided to hold off on the fudge. I’d get more than enough of it at the Winter Festival.  


Lily waited for me at the door, and of course, I, being the chivalrous bloke I am, opened the door and took the fudge from her hands as we left Honeyduke’s for the feathery world of snow.  


“Walk me back to Hogwarts?” she asked in a light, airy tone.

“Uh—sure,” I bit back my surprise and simply grinned.

This was the best Hogsmeade trip yet, the closest I would ever get to dating Lily Evans. I crushed the disappointment that thought brought on as I watched her brush a stray lock of orange, glittering with white powder.

I couldn’t help noticing all the glances students were giving us—or rather, me. But I didn’t care. Lily must have noticed too, and she didn’t seem to care either. She started talking about the sheer silliness of the Fudge-Eating Contest and its possible outcomes.

“Are you participating?” Lily asked.

“Nah. I’d hate to have you clean up all by yourself,” I answered. “Besides, it’s not my favorite. Classic Chocolat? Where’s the fun in that?”

“You know it was the practical choice,” she defended, waving a hand absently. “I can’t have everyone eating _your_ favorite, Pig.”

I stuck out my tongue and “Hmph”ed for lack of a witty reply.

“Oh, come off it.” Lily suddenly halted and dug into her bags, emerging with a wrapped piece of—yes, it was!—Caramel Marshmallow Cream fudge. I groaned and laughed as she pulled off a gooey chunk.

“Here, eat, you pig,” she grinned and shoved it up to my nose. It smelled delectable. “No more complaining about not eating your favorite flavor.”

“I told you, it’s not my—” I was silenced by the sticky sweet forced in my mouth.

Mmm. I had forgotten how good it tasted. I closed my eyes and swirled the fudge around in my mouth. When I opened my eyes, she was standing there, looking entertained.

“Not your favorite, huh?” Lily teased.

“Well…” I grinned.

“Thought so.”

And there we were, just standing there in the snow, having a moment with the Caramel Fudge. It _was_ good. And I was going to prove it to her.

“It's my favorite _now_. Here, I’ll show you.” I grinned before leaning down, heart thumping violently, and pressing a very quick kiss on her lips.

Dear Merlin, help me.

I couldn’t resist. I really couldn’t. She’d been acting so...inviting toward me since Honeyduke’s, maybe even before that. How much was I supposed to be able to stand? I had the perfect opportunity to kiss her, then and there. So I did. I took my chance.

Face already burning, I stepped back a bit, in case she flew into a violent rage. But she didn’t. Lily was looking down at her shoes, and my fear of physical violence morphed into a fear of having hurt her. I had acted too rashly.

There goes our friendship.

Bloody hormones. I can blame it on them.

“Lily, I’m so, so sorr—” I blurted before stopping at her smiling face. Her cheeks were a deep pink, but she was smiling.

She was smiling.

I had just kissed Lily Evans, and she was smiling. The sweet Caramel Marshmallow Cream was disintegrating on my tongue.

It was heaven in Hogsmeade.

“Don’t be,” Lily said, still smiling. I blinked. No words popped into my head. I never dreamed that anything like this would every happen to me. So I just stood there, blinking like an idiot.

“’Cos I just discovered my new favorite flavor.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

**Finis**

**A/N:** That was really, really a bit too sweet. Like fudge. Yes, and I _know_ the ending was really sappy. I hadn’t originally intended for James to actually kiss Lily. Rewrite ending? Please review. All comments, opinions, and criticism welcome.

I made myself hungry writing this. Off to eat!

.mische. 


End file.
